Recent improvements outweigh past in instituting discipline
A New Brunswick car dealership employee who drove a customer’s car too fast deserves a suspension but not dismissal, an arbitrator has ruled.
Moncton Honda was a car dealership in Moncton, N.B., owned and operated by Baig Blvd. Motors. It hired Lance Lagacé as a lube technician in the service department in March 2019. Lagacé’s job duties involved changing fluids and rotating tires for customer vehicles.
In March 2020, Lagacé’s supervisor gave him an oral warning about his work performance and a written warning for his performance and his “poor attitude.” The written warning stated that a failure to improve could lead to further discipline, up to possible dismissal.
Later that month, several employees, including Lagacé, were laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lagacé was recalled one month later and both his supervisor and the shop foreman spoke to him about his attitude and performance before the layoff. Over the next couple of months, Lagacé’s performance improved and management had no issues with his attitude.
On the afternoon of July 7, Lagacé was assigned to change the oil in a customer’s car and put four tires in it. He drove the customer’s car past his work station into the shop to put the tires in the vehicle. However, rather than reversing it back to his station, he drove it around the building — he said he was following the “traffic flow” — and accelerated to see “what was the pick-up of the car” before pulling into his station to change the oil.
Another employee who had been outside reported that he had seen Lagacé driving around the building and doing “pull,” which the supervisor understood to be a fast acceleration. The employee said that the tires had squealed and the vehicle was going faster than it should have been given the amount of traffic and people in the area. Another employee reported hearing the engine revving and the tires squealing.
The supervisor questioned Lagacé about the incident. Lagacé said he only accelerated “a little bit, but not enough to say.” The supervisor sent Lagacé home for the rest of the day while he investigated further.
Management reviewed security camera footage that showed Lagacé driving around the building, taking a corner and speeding up. They decided to terminate his employment on July 9 for abusing a customer’s vehicle and driving in an unsafe manner in a high-traffic area.
Lagacé apologized for his actions and explained that the customer’s car was “one of his dream cars” and when he got in it he felt “like a 16-year-old boy again.” The supervisor told Lagacé that the customer was irritated and had threatened to expose the incident on social media. However, the customer had actually called for a different reason, and the supervisor had missed the call.
The union grieved the dismissal, claiming that it was without reasonable grounds or just cause and therefore it violated the collective agreement.
The arbitrator noted that Lagacé admitted to accelerating the customer’s car — an action that caused a safety risk and served no legitimate business interest for the dealership. As a result, just cause was established, the arbitrator said, adding that it potentially put the safety of customers and employees at risk, which deserved discipline.
However, the arbitrator found that, although Lagacé had an oral warning and a written warning on his record, his performance and attitude had improved since his layoff. He also never tried to hide his misconduct and apologized for his behaviour, demonstrating awareness that what he had done was wrong. The arbitrator also found that management lied about the customer and there was no evidence that the customer complained.
The arbitrator determined that termination was excessive and ordered the dealership to reinstate Lagacé with a one-month suspension.
